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New England Gothic Society
The New England Gothic Society is a prestigious paranormal research group that takes its investigations seriously. Divided into regional groups known as Chapters, the members of NEGS are renowned for their long experience in dealing with the unknown, as well as possessing a vast library of occult lore, strange objects of dubious history, and a specialization in the areas of ghosts and witchcraft. Status: Active. AKA: The Gothic Society. Facts: -The organization's history is murky but it appears to have been founded by parties unknown in the year 1694, one year after the close of the Salem Witch Trials. Some of the oldest documents still held by the Gothic Society dating back to that time period often make mention of a 'Ring of Affiliates' or 'doctors of the unseen' as being figures of authority within the nascent Society. Modern members of the NEGS are unsurprisingly mum about the implications. -Early American writers like Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe were signed members and surely helped to pave the path of this Chapter. America has always had a fascination with the occult and the unknown, and in the land of religious freedom, there are plenty of people who want to test the limits of theology. -The Gothic Society is divided into regional groups known as chapters. Within the United States, there is a chapter for every state, and researchers who join the organization are usually paired with the chapter of their state of residency. -The NEGS is an old group, however, and their affluence and popularity within the occult community has afforded them the chance to found several chapters outside of the U.S. Several prominent chapters of the Gothic Society now operate in places like Great Britain, France, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines. -Each chapter hosts several estates known as Charter Houses which are home to full-time researchers and scholars of the Gothic Society. -The HQ of the New England Gothic Society is located in Salem, Massachusetts (because what paranormal group in New England isn't?). There are actually several Charter Houses located in and around Salem from which its leaders conduct the day-to-day business of running an officially recognized occult research organization. -In terms of militant assets, the New England Gothic Society isn't really meant to field agents trained to fight. They have a private security detail, most of whom are former cops with experience in the paranormal themselves. But the only real 'weapon' the organization uses are the Exorcists for things like poltergheists, curses, witch hexes, etc. Ghostly Activity & Witchcraft: Members of the New England Gothic Society often specialize in the subjects of magick use and the activities of spirits. NEGS members are often recruited for possessing backgrounds dealing with these two subjects. The modern birth of electronic ghost hunting has found its way into the NEGS as well. The last few generations of the Chapter have been inundated with younger Adepts wielding full-spectrum cameras and Flir devices. EVP sessions and IMF detectors are now common equipment items found alongside any investigative team sent out by the Gothic Society. Alliance with the Sons of Liberty: The New England Gothic Society predates the Sons of Liberty by several decades, and their field of activity is quite apart from that of the highly political SoL. Nonetheless, the Gothic Society has proven to be a major part of New England's cultural heritage and so when the American Revolutionary War broke out, the NEGS found itself repeatedly getting dragged into the conflict. Long story short, the NEGS was evenly divided in terms of supporting or opposing the revolution. However, when the war ended and the United States was truly born, those members of the Gothic Society who had Tory loyalties eventually either returned to Great Britain or immigrated to Canada. This resulted in the Gothic Society shifting strongly towards the Sons of Liberty and, eventually, becoming almost a Wing of their Chapter. While the NEGS is still an independent organization, many people, both those within either organization or outside, consider the NEGS to be an occult-minded wing of the SoL. State Chapters: As previously stated, the NEGS is divided into regional State Chapters, with one chapter for each State of the U.S. as well as a few in foreign countries. State chapters prefer to draw their membership from residents of their own state, for obvious logistical reasons, as well as because state chapters tend to feel great kinship with their home region. Charter Houses: Each state chapter will host several Charter Houses throughout its region, places from which the NEGS can conduct its studies and gather data. Each charter houses is led by a senior researcher. Degrees Of Paranormal Activity: For purposes of classification and research, field agents of the NEGS are trained to discern paranormal events and categorize them into one of the following groups: Zero Degree = Zero Degree paranormal activity is, essentially, an in-group codeword for bunk. It is the total absence of any discernable activity and is used to designate locations, individuals or events which have no discernible connection with the paranormal. First Degree = First Degree designates events or activity which may have a paranormal component but could still just be coincidence or misidentification. These cases are often given to neophyte researchers in order to give them more experience. Second Degree = Second Degree designates events or activity which strongly appears to be paranormal in character and composition. At the very least, it designates uncommon phenomena. Third Degree = Third Degree designates definitive evidence for the paranormal, such as ghostly apparitions, EVP's, strongly uncommon natural phenomena, etc. However, this phenomena is mostly 'static' and does not directly affect the observer or other people. Fourth Degree = Fourth Degree is a more severe case of the Third Degree, it designates cases where there is definitive paranormal activity but this activity is also affecting people. However, the phenomena appears to be mindless or unguided in its own right. Fifth Degree = Fifth Degree designates paranormal activity which is both active and has demonstrated at least a crude sentience. It is used to designate events, phenomena or entities which have demonstrated self-awareness, the ability to communicate somehow with observers, and an awareness of self. It should go without saying that any registered Fifth Degree cases are potentially dangerous and so are handed off only to senior researchers of the Society. Sixth Degree = The Sixth Degree designation is both a classification as well a red flag. It means that an aware or semi-sentient paranormal phenomenon has been identified, but this entity appears to potentially dangerous or even actively hostile. These cases are only handled by senior researchers of the Society who are accompanied with trained exorcists. Occult Community: Much of paranormal research is really networking. Local people tend to know far more about the ghost stories and urban legends of their home area than any online database or internet search can cook up. Luckily for the Gothic Society, there is a vibrant occult community the world over, composed of individuals and groups with a vested interest in experiencing the paranormal. Witches of Salem: The New England Gothic Society does host several people who are known and talented practitioners of the arts unseen. However, the NEGS proper is not a society of magick-users, nor does it exist to promote the use of magick or the dark arts. It does exist, however, to document such phenomena. The Witches of Salem, also known as the Salem Coven, is one of the most continuous and prestigious groups of magick-practitioners in the United States. And the NEGS has a long history of interacting with them. Indeed, many witches in the U.S. are affiliated with both the Salem Coven and the Gothic Society. This relationship is believed to have something to do with the Doctors of the Unseen, a ring of paranormal investigators in Colonial America who may have attempted to help some of the persecuted witches escape the persecution of the Puritans. These Doctors of the Unseen seem to have been the predecessors to the modern Gothic Society. Legend of Sleepy Hollow: The Doctors of the Unseen were a loose network of educated investigators of the paranormal. Men of science and learning who, unlike the stricter materialists of the scientific revolution, still held open the possibility for phenomena that had no basis in the material. These men often worked along or in small groups, and their numbers began to dwindle for a time after the close of the American Revolutionary War. However, the nascent NEGS soon encountered a second ghostly phenomena, and one which would revolutionize the Doctors of the Unseen into the modern-day New England Gothic Society. That phenomena was the Headless Hessian who rode a jet-black steed through the forests around Sleepy Hollow on forlorn nights. Lovecraftian: Electrifying Eccentricity: Nicholas Tesla: Category:Witan Category:Gothic Category:Spirit Category:Magick Category:Weird Category:Chapter Category:Sons Of Liberty